


Allergic Reactions

by InYourNightmares



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-04-27 14:25:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5051929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InYourNightmares/pseuds/InYourNightmares
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A certain Russian navigator is allergic to peanuts, and there's a cute new nurse in the Medbay. Pavel Chekov is thinking that maybe peanuts aren't so bad after all. Fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Doctor McCoy was sitting alone in his office when there was a tentative knock on the door. Frowning, he put down his PADD and yanked open the door, eyebrows raising when he saw the young nurse standing outside and looking a little hesitant.

"Yes, Nurse Delacourte?" he asked gruffly. The girl standing in front of him was the newest addition to the Enterprise's medical team. Vivienne Delacourte was currently the youngest nurse onboard, having just turned eighteen. Leonard McCoy had been sceptical about taking on such a young and obviously inexperienced nurse, but she had yet to get on his nerves. The girl was quiet, did what she was told and stayed out of his way for the most part. That was enough for Doctor McCoy.

"There's a patient, sir. Ensign, erm... Chekov is here and he has rashes all over his arms. I know you asked not to be disturbed, but Doctor Frances just left her post to the officer's quarters because someone was too sick to be brought to the Medical Bay. There are no other doctors on duty."

Doctor McCoy nodded. That was what he liked about this girl. Straightforward, to the point and she didn't waste his time. He stepped out into the Medbay, closing the door of his office behind him. "Thank you, Nurse Delacourte. I'll handle this."

Vivienne Delacourte nodded, breathing a sigh of relief as the doctor walked past her. The other nurses might laugh, but she was a little scared of her gruff, moody CMO. She'd seen Doctor McCoy scream at other nurses for the slightest things and she was positive that if he ever screamed at her, she would probably burst into tears. So Vivienne did her best not to irritate him.

Pressing a hand on the skirt of her uniform to flatten it, she took a deep breath and followed Doctor McCoy over to where the adorable Russian ensign with the curly hair was sitting. He'd introduced himself as Pavel Chekov, though his accent had thrown Vivienne so off guard that she'd had no idea what he was saying for a moment. For some odd reason, she'd flushed a deep red colour and quietly told him to sit on one of the beds before running off to get the CMO.

"Ensign Chekov," Doctor McCoy said once he reached the Russian. "What's the problem?"

Pavel Chekov had been sitting on the edge of one of the Medbay beds, swinging his legs happily. He stopped abruptly at the sight of Doctor McCoy and the pretty nurse behind him. Clearing his throat, he thrust out an arm. "Eet is my allergy, sir. I wos unaware zat the pecan pie made by the replicators has traces of peanut butter in eet."

Vivienne peeked at the Russian's arm and saw the spread of red skin and rashes all over it. Doctor McCoy peeled the sleeve of Pavel's uniform halfway up before dropping the arm back to his side. "It's pretty mild. Nurse Delacourte, I'll be needing some antihistamines."

Vivienne nodded, trying to stop herself from blushing when Chekov looked up at her once more and smiled a boyish, rather lopsided smile. Her heartbeat was thudding for some reason, and Vivienne hurried away to retrieve a hypospray with antihistamines from the pharmaceutical stock. She returned with it quickly and handed it to Doctor McCoy. He took it, before glancing at her.

"Pay attention, Nurse Delacourte. You don't need a doctor every time somebody comes in with a regular allergy reaction, you 're perfectly qualified to administer it yourself," he told her. He stuck the hypospray onto the back of Chekov's neck and released it, causing the Russian to let out a low hiss of pain. It was over quickly, however, and soon Chekov straightened up and was smiling that lopsided smile again.

"Zank you, Doctor McCoy."

Leonard McCoy grunted and raised an eyebrow at Pavel. "Sit here until the rash has subsided completely and then you can go. And stay away from those peanuts." Doctor McCoy glanced at Vivienne. "Keep an eye on him. I'll be in my office. And when Doctor Frances returns from wherever the hell she's gone, tell her I want to see her."

Vivienne nodded as Doctor McCoy disappeared into his office once more. There was a short silence and then Vivienne glanced at Chekov. She tried not to blush. Vivienne had dealt with plenty of patients in all the time she'd been on the Enterprise, there was no reason why a cute Ensign should make her so shy! She cleared her throat and smiled at him. "Is the rash subsiding, Ensign Chekov?" she asked professionally.

Chekov nodded with a smile. He held out his arm, where the red color was slowly disappearing. "Yes, eet eez." He paused, trying to think of something to say to the pretty nurse. He picked his brain, but the strands of dark hair that had escaped her plait and were framing her small face distracted him. "Do you have allergeez?"

Chekov felt stupid as soon as the question left his mouth. Had he just asked the first pretty girl his age that he'd seen in months if she had any allergies? He was embarrassed but to his relief, Nurse Delacourte only giggled lightly. The sound was beautiful and he stared at the way her light pink lips curved upward.

"No, I don't have any allergies," she admitted with a smile. Vivienne had noticed that he was embarrassed, but she was never one to make other people feel bad about saying silly things. "Well, not to food substances, at least. I've found that I can have very mild allergic reactions to some types of make-up and skin creams, though."

Chekov smiled. "I do not zink you need makeup."

Vivienne flushed a deep red. Is he flirting with me? It was difficult to tell, Chekov looked so genuine. He was simply looking at her with that adorable smile while Vivienne gaped like a fish. She had no idea how to respond to flirting. Despite being eighteen, she looked a little younger and none of the male patients at the Enterprise had ever tried to flirt with Vivienne. They were all far older than her anyway. She tried to compose herself and brush it off. "Oh well, um... is that rash gone yet?"

Vivienne leaned over and took his arm in her fingers, gently brushing them over his skin. She noticed that he immediately became uncomfortable and dropped his arm in embarrassment. She had no idea what has possessed her to touch his skin like that. Worried, she glanced up at his face. "Sorry."

"Eet eez almost gone," Chekov replied, wishing that she would touch his arm again. Her fingers had been so soft, her touch so delicate. He shifted slightly on the bed and then glanced at the time. "I must reeturn to my post in fiwe meeneets. My lunch break is almost ower."

Vivienne nodded. "What do you do, Ensign Chekov?" she asked, preferring this line of conversation.

Chekov smiled brightly at her. It was clear that whatever this boy did, he was extremely happy with his post on the Enterprise. His legs began to swing slightly as they hung off the edge of the bed. "I am zee ship's naveegator! I work on zee bridge!"

"Wow," Vivienne complimented. "That must be amazing. I've always wanted to see the bridge, but I only got a quick glance during my tour of the ship. I wasn't even allowed on it; my place is at Medbay. But you're very young to be a navigator. You must be so smart."

Chekov looked quite proud of himself. "Da, I am eighteen!"

"Me too."

There was a short and awkward silence, before Chekov glanced once more at his arm. It was back to normal completely and he found himself feeling a little disappointed. He wished it would take longer so he would have an excuse to keep talking to Nurse Delacourte. He slowly got down from the bed. "Eet was a pleasure to meet you, Nurse."

Vivienne nodded. "You too, Ensign Chekov."

"Pleez, call me Pavel!" He insisted with a broad smile.

"Well in that case, Pavel, my name is Vivienne."

"Wee-Wee-yen," he repeated in his strong Russian accent. Vivienne couldn't resist the sudden giggle that escaped her mouth. The way he said her name simply sounded so adorable and it had caught her off guard. When she looked up again, she saw that Chekov looked a little crestfallen. "Deed I say it wrong?" he asked.

"No, Pavel, you said it perfectly."

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"Oh my god, Bones, he's adorable! Can we please, please keep him?"

Doctor McCoy glanced up from his work and narrowed his eyes at Doctor Layla Frances, who'd barged into his office without his permission. She was a beautiful woman; golden blonde hair that reached down to her waist and a naturally bubbly personality that could put anyone at ease. Leonard had met her back in the Academy; she was one of the only other women his age and she spent a lot of time hanging out with him and Jim, which was how she'd gotten her post aboard the Enterprise. That, and she was a damn good doctor.

'What the hell are you talking about, woman?" he demanded. "And you can't just barge into my office like that, I'm the CMO, dammit!"

Layla laughed and took a seat. "Relax, Bones. You were the one who asked me to see you remember? And I was talking about the adorable Russian ensign that I just saw leaving MedBay! I swear, I wanted to give him a big, warm hug! I would have, if i didn't think it would make Nurse Delacourte jealous."

Doctor McCoy blinked. "Huh?"

"Nurse Delacourte?" Layla asked. "You didn't see them blushing and making eyes at each other in the Medbay? Jesus, Bones, how distracted are you?"

Doctor McCoy shrugged. "Yeah, well, Chekov's too young for you anyway. Get yourself a teddy bear. I asked you in here because I want to know where the hell you've been all day. You were supposed to be the Doctor on duty when Chekov came in."

Layla smiled. "I got a communication from Jim. He's been lying in bed sick, and he couldn't even make it to the Medbay. I went to his quarters and he's come down with the flu. Puking his guts out and everything. I told him to stay in bed."

"Hmm," McCoy frowned. "Next time you go around making house calls, you let me know."

"Yes, sir." Layla got out of her seat and moved to stand behind Leonard, putting her hands on his shoulders. He frowned and shifted uncomfortably.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Giving you a shoulder rub," she replied simply. She moved her fingers deftly over his shoulder blades and then his upper arms, rubbing circles and squeezing his muscles lightly every now and then. Layla could feel him relax under her fingertips and she smiled to herself. Grumpy Doctor McCoy wasn't that difficult to deal with if you knew what to do. She carefully slid her fingers under his shirst and then leaned forward to press her lips softly to the back of his neck. Leonard let out a reluctant groan.

"Dammit, Layla, I thought we weren't going to do this again. I'm your commanding officer," he said, but he didn't sound very convinced. His knuckles were white where he clutched the desk, as he continued to feel Layla's fingers dance over his shoulders and her warm breath on his skin. His body shuddered as she leaned forward and lightly nipped his ear.

"Leonard McCoy, i just spent the entire day dealing with a sick Captain and bucketloads of puke. You're not really going to turn me down, are you?"

Leonard groaned and spun around in his chair, pulling Layla down onto his lap and pressing their mouths together in a hot, passionate kiss. He could never turn her down.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X


	2. Chapter 2

It was exactly one week before Vivienne Delacourte saw Pavel Chekov again. She'd spent a lot of time thinking about him; she'd often lie awake in bed and remember the way he said her name- 'Wee-wee-yen' and giggle to herself. Then she'd wonder if she was crazy for thinking so much about a man she'd spent all of five minutes with. Either way, it was useless to think about him. Chekov worked all the way up on the bridge and Vivienne was down in the Medbay. She'd kept an eye out for him during her lunch hours, but either he was never around or their schedules were very different.

"Wee-wee-yen!" a cheerful voice called, and for a moment, Vivienne wondered if she'd imagined it. She resisted the urge to smack herself. What was she doing, imagining Chekov's voice during working hours? But when she slowly turned around she saw Pavel Chekov standing there, holding his arm.

"Ensign Chekov," she greeted, hoping that wasn't a squeak in her voice. He was grinning that adorable lopsided smile and Vivienne couldn't help but smile back. There was something highly contagious about his enthusiasm. "Is everything all right?"

Pavel shook his head sadly, thrusting his arm out at her. Vivienne could see the red rashes on his forearms; they were even worse than they had been last week. She quickly waved him over to sit on one of the Medbay beds. "Eet eez my allergies again. I wos trying to fix the replicator so zat it would not put peanut butter in zee pecan pie. But I wos not successful."

"I can see that," Vivienne said sympathetically, gently rolling up his sleeve. The red rashes made her wince. There were nail marks on his arm. "Have you been scratching? You should have come sooner, you should know that scratching only makes it worse."

Chekov pouted. "But it itches wery badly!"

Vivienne frowned. Doctor Frances was the doctor on duty, but both she and Doctor McCoy were in the CMO's office. For some reason, Vivienne didn't fancy interrupting them. Besides, hadn't Doctor McCoy told her that she was qualified to deal with simple things like allergy medication on her own? "I'll be right back," Vivienne told Pavel. "No scratching, all right?"

Pavel nodded obediently and began swinging his legs on the bed, while looking down thoughtfully at his arm. Vivienne glanced at him for a moment and then hurried to go fetch a hypospray loaded with antihistamines. She returned with it very quickly and gently administered it on his neck, trying not to hurt him.

"You are much more jen-teel zan Doctor McCoy," Pavel told her, his face a little red. His legs were still swinging off the bed and the side of his shoe accidentally brushed Vivienne's skirt. He looked horrified. "I am wery sorry! I did not mean to kick you!"

"It's fine!" Vivienne assured him, brushing off the tiny bit of dirt that had landed on her skirt. She'd always hated these Starfleet regulation uniforms anyway. Clearing her throat, she smiled reassuringly at Pavel. There was a slightly awkward silence as she wondered what to say. Vivienne could hear one of the other nurses talking to a patient on the other side of Medbay, but neither of them noticed Pavel and Vivienne. "I suppose it's time to give up on that pecan pie, eh?" she asked lightly. "If you come in here one more time with an allergy issue, I think Doctor McCoy will yell at you."

Pavel nodded, smiling. "I zink Doctor McCoy has a wery short temper," he replied. "He is a good person but I wood not like to work under him. Has he ewer yelled at you?"

"Oh no," Vivienne replied, shaking her head. "He's never yelled at me. To be honest, I don't take people yelling at me very well. I have a tendency to start crying, and then things get embarrassing. I stay out of Doctor McCoy's line of fire."

"You must be a wery good nurse," Pavel replied, before shaking his head. "No, you are a wery good nurse. You are wery patient. I see why Starfleet hired you at a young age. I used to hate coming to zee sickbay, but you hawe made the experience more pleasant."

Vivienne flushed. Had he just hinted that he'd come down to the Medbay to see her? She quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. Of course not. As if Chekov would purposefully eat a food he was allergic to and develop painful rashes just to speak to her for a few minutes. She cleared her throat. "Thank you, Pavel. That's very sweet of you. You certainly help us nurses feel more appreciated," she joked feebly.

"Your job is wery important. You should always feel appreciated," Pavel replied solemnly. "Why did you choose to become a nurse, Wee-wee-yen?"

Vivienne shrugged. "I'm not sure. I suppose it started with my grandmother. She was very sick when I was a child, and I was often left at home alone with her. I loved arranging her medicines and reminding her to take them at the right time. She always said I was the perfect little nurse." Vivienne paused. "She died three years ago."

Pavel smiled sadly. "I am wery sorry. I loved my grandmother as well. She wood tell me stories about Mother Russia when I wos a child."

There was a slightly awkward pause, and Vivienne looked down at Chekov's arm to see that the rash was completely gone. She smiled and gestured to his sleeve. "Oh there, it's all better. Sorry, you probably have work to do and I'm keeping you from it by chatting."

"Of course not. I enjoy your company wery much," Pavel assured her as he jumped down from the bed and rolled his sleeve back up. He gave her a big lopsided smile and Vivienne blushed as she watched him walk out of the Medbay with a slight spring to his step.

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The next time Vivienne Delacourte saw Pavel Chekov, he brought flowers.

One of the other nurses was treating a patient at the time, and she giggled at the sight of the cheerful Russian ensign, skipping into the sickbay with a fistful of blossoms in one hand and an allergic rash on the the other. Chekov glanced around to make sure that Doctor McCoy was nowhere in sight, before he asked the nurse if Vivienne was around. The nurse laughed and called for Vivienne with a broad grin on her face.

"You... brought me flowers?" Vivienne asked in surprise when Chekov handed them to her as soon as he saw her. He had a slightly nervous smile on his face and his cheeks were a little red. Vivienne took them slowly and blushed. She'd never had a guy give her flowers before. "Wow, Pavel, they're beautiful. Where did you get flowers on a starship?"

"Zee pilot, Sulu, eez a friend of mine. He grows plants on board ze Enterprise," Chekov admitted with a smile. He gestured toward the yellow flowers. "I thought zey were wery pretty. Zey reminded me of you, so I promised myself I wood bring zem to you ze next time I came to sickbay."

Vivienne felt warm inside. They remind him of me? She smiled down at the flowers giddily for a few minutes before she remembered that Chekov was still standing there. Vivienne noticed the familiar rash on his arm and gasped lightly. "Pavel! Did you really eat the pecan pie again?"

He smiled guiltily.

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

"It smells like flowers in here," Doctor McCoy grumbled as he entered his sickbay. For the past month, it had been smelling like flowers every Friday evening when he turned up for his late shift. Except he could never find out where the smell was coming from. There were never any flowers around, and McCoy could only assume that one of the nurses or someone was wearing a strong flowery perfume. If he could figure out who it was, he would have a word with them. Sickbays weren't supposed to smell like flowers.

"Stop whining," Doctor Layla Frances told him, as she walked over. Her blonde hair was tied back neatly and Leonard subtly took a whiff of her as she came closer. Well, it certainly wasn't Layla. Her perfume was more fruity. If Doctor McCoy had to hazard a guess, he would say something with cherries in it. Before he could speak, though, Layla slapped a PADD into his chest. "Have you read the pharmaceutical inventory report that Nurse Chapel sent us both? We're low on a couple of vaccines and we need more antihistamines."

Doctor McCoy frowned. "Yeah, I know about the vaccines, I arranged for us to get more. But antihistamines? Who the hell are we giving those to?"

Layla raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. I figured you were doing it. I haven't administered antihistamines to a patient since we started on this damn mission."

McCoy frowned as realization hit him. "Dammit. I think I know where all the drugs are going. Pull up a few patient records for me."

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	3. Chapter 3

Layla Frances stared at the screen in front of her. Something was clearly very wrong.

"You mean to say that Ensign Pavel Chekov has had seven doses of antihistamines administered to him in the past month?" she asked slowly, with a frown. "That's the adorable Russian kid, right? What's he doing, getting high on them?"

Nurse Chapel shook her head lightly. She'd seen the Russian boy come into the sickbay before, and it certainly wasn't the drugs that he wanted. "I don't think so. I believe the boy has very different reasons for his repeated visits to Medbay."

Doctor McCoy nodded. "Damn right, he does. I couldn't even get the kid to come in for his physical on time and now he's spending half as much time in here as me!" McCoy frowned and tapped at the PADD in front of him. "When's the last time he came in, huh?"

Layla glanced at the record. "Last Thursday evening. Why?"

"I'm pulling up the feed from the cameras stationed right outside of sickbay." Doctor McCoy replied. He continued to tap the screen rapidly, and finally an image came up. Both Layla and Nurse Chapel leaned in to see the small figure of Pavel Chekov standing outside the doors to the Medbay. He ran his finger down the moniter outside which listed the nurses and doctors on duty and then smiled. Chekov on the screen dug into his pocket, pulled out a handful of nuts and stuffed them into his mouth before walking into the sickbay with a fistful of flowers.

Doctor McCoy leaned back in his seat and frowned. "I think Nurse Delacourte needs a good talking to about misusing sickbay drugs. I told her she was authorised to administer allergy medicines, but I didn't think she'd take me so literally."

Layla shook her head. "No way. I'll talk to Nurse Delacourte, you'd probably just make her cry. If you want, you can talk to Jim and tell him that his navigator needs to control his allergic reactions."

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By the time Vivienne got off her shift at the Medbay that evening, she was flushing red in embarrassment. Doctor Frances had taken her aside and told her very gently but firmly that she was not to entertain any more visits from Ensign Chekov while she was working, nor was she to administer any more allergy medicines without a doctor's orders. Vivienne felt both guilty and humiliated. She'd known that Pavel's repeated visits were not coincidence, but she'd never really thought about the fact that she might get into trouble for not telling him to stop. How could she? He was so adorable and she'd let herself get caught up in his cuteness and the fact that he seemed to care about her. Vivienne Delacourte took a deep breath and promised herself that she wouldn't allow her crush on the Russian ensign to get in the way of the job that she had always wanted.

"Wee-wee-yen?" A soft voice called out as she turned towards her quarters from the sickbay. Startled, Vivienne whirled around and saw that Pavel was standing a few feet away from her in the corridor, his head hanging slightly. She blinked at him.

"Pavel? What are you doing here?" she asked, almost sharply.

If Pavel Chekov had been a puppy, his tail and ears would have drooped at this point. He looked so upset that Vivienne resisted the urge to reach out and hug him. "I wanted to speak to you," he admitted sadly. "Keptain Kirk wos not happy with me. He said zat you got in trouble weeth Doctor McCoy and I wanted to apologize. I am wery sorry, Wee-wee-yen. I did not realize zat my actions wood hurt you. You must be wery angry with me."

Vivienne's heart melted. It was so unbelievably sweet of him to wait until her shift was over and come apologize, even though it hadn't been entirely his fault. Vivienne knew that she'd been encouraging his actions the whole time and she felt guilty. "Pavel, that's all right. It's not your fault, really. You don't have to apologize."

"But it ees my fault," Pavel mumbled. He was clutching a bunch of flowers in his right hand and he held them out to her. Half of them were yellow and the other half pink. Vivienne reached out hesitantly and took them. "I wos told zat yellow flowers mean an apology. I promise zis is ze last time. I will not bother you any more, Wee-wee-yen."

Vivienne clutched the small bunch of flowers in her hand and stared down at them as Pavel slowly walked away from her. She could feel warm tears building in her eyes but she blinked them back.

Vivienne was too afraid to ask what the pink flowers meant.

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It had been three weeks since Vivienne had seen Pavel Chekov. She'd heard the other nurses mention that Captain Kirk had banned Pavel from the sickbay unless there was a medical emergency. She felt guilty, knowing that it had been partially her fault. She was the one who'd repeatedly administered drugs to him, yet she wasn't facing any sort of punishment.

Work wasn't the same without Chekov's cheerful smile and bubbly chatter to look forward to every couple of days. Vivienne would find herself glancing towards the entrance of the sickbay as though she was waiting for him to come in, and then she'd remember that he wasn't allowed here anymore. She missed him. Doctor McCoy's grumpy moods and Nurse Chapel's incessant gossiping were starting to get to Vivienne. Pavel had been a refreshing break from daily routine and now he was gone.

"Nurse Delacourte! I need a 0.5 mg dosage of para-acetylaminophenol, now!" Doctor McCoy called out from where he was treating an Engineer that had come in with flu symptoms. Apparently it was going around the starship at the moment. Vivienne jerked out of her thoughts about Pavel and hurried to retrieve the drug that Doctor McCoy had asked for.

Vivienne handed the hypospray to Doctor McCoy, who pressed the nozzle and then froze suddenly for a moment. He was staring at the label on the container. Frowning, he turned around and glared darkly at Vivienne. "Dammit, Nurse Delacourte! Does this look like para-acetylaminophenol to you?" he demanded.

"Um..." Vivienne flinched at his sudden loud voice and glanced at the label on the hypospray. Holy shit. The hypospray she'd just handed Doctor McCoy was an extremely strong anaesthetic. Her heart plummeted into her stomach. "N-no..."

"Do you know what this would have done?" Doctor McCoy yelled angrily. "It would have knocked the patient out for a good five hours straight! Is this the sort of shit they teach you in nursing school?"

Vivienne could feel the other nurses and patients go silent as everyone turned to stare at them. Hot tears were forming in her eyes and her face flushed red in embarrassment. Don't cry, she told herself firmly. Stop being a baby. You made a stupid mistake, he has every right to yell at you for it. She took a deep breath and tried not to let her voice crack. "I-I'm sorry, Doctor McCoy."

Doctor McCoy tossed the hypospray aside angrily. "Damn nurses. Can't do a single job right. Have to do everything myself," he snapped as he left the room to go get the right medicine. Vivienne bit her lip and held in a humiliated sob.

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Vivienne's shift ended five minutes afterwards and she ran back to her room in the nurses' quarters and locked the door behind her before collapsing onto her bed in sobs. She felt humiliated. She could still feel the burning gaze of half the sickbay as everyone watched Doctor McCoy scream at her. Part of her was furious at her CMO for humiliating her in public and reducing her to tears. But of course, he was right. She'd made a stupid mistake and if he hadn't noticed the label, it could have had serious repercussions.

Vivienne lay there for a few hours, trying to compose herself and recover from the horrible incident. How was she going to go in for her shift tomorrow? Did she still even have her job? Or was she fired? Maybe they would drop her off the next time the Enterprise docked, she realized with horror. She was still processing these thoughts when the beep of the computer came from above and the robotic voice sounded. "Ensign Pavel Chekov requests entry."

Vivienne froze. Pavel Chekov? What was he doing here, much less at her quarters? She sat up in bed quickly and attempted to wipe away the tears on her face. There wasn't much she could do in such a short amount of time; her eyes were still red and her face puffed. She cleared her throat. "Granted."

The door slowly opened and Pavel poked his curly head inside, looking a little nervous. "Wee-wee-yen?"

"Pavel, come in," Vivienne told him quickly. Her voice still sounded thick. "What are you doing here? Are you even allowed to be in these quarters?"

Pavel stepped inside and closed the door behind him, shrugging lightly. He was shifting from foot to foot. "I do not know. I thought that the computer wood stop me eef I wos not allowed, but it granted access." He paused for a few moments. "I wanted to make sure you were all right. I heard about your eencident in the sickbay."

Vivienne flushed red in despair. "Oh no. Is everyone talking about how I made a stupid mistake and got yelled at by Doctor McCoy?"

Pavel shook his head quickly. "Not eweryone. Doctor Frances informed me. She thought zat I wood be able to comfort you for some reason." He coughed and looked a little embarrassed. "But eef you wood like me to leave..."

Vivienne shook her head frantically. Of course she didn't want him to leave. Seeing his face had already cheered her up much more in the past minute. She pushed aside some pillows on her bed and made room for him to sit next to her. "No, no, please sit. Doctor Frances was right."

Pavel smiled and sat down beside her, making himself comfortable. Vivienne flushed as she realized that Chekov was actually in her room, on her bed. But she didn't know what else to do. It wasn't like she could offer him anywhere else to sit- her quarters were tiny enough as it was. "I brought you zese flowers," Chekov said, handing her a small bunch of pink and red carnations. Vivienne took them silently, feeling her heart flutter in her chest. He was so unbelievably sweet! She beamed up at him.

"Oh, Pavel, thank you so much!" she gushed. Vivienne quickly wiped away any remaining tears on her cheeks and smiled. "They're beautiful."

Pavel smiled, looking quite proud of himself. He'd managed to make her smile very easily and he nodded. "I wos talking to Sulu. He said zat pink and red carnations are used to tell somewone zat you miss them," he explained. "Ze pink means zat you are unforgettable and ze red signifies... admiration."

Vivienne couldn't take it anymore. It was the sweetest thing that anyone had ever done for her and she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly and softly kissing his warm cheek. Pavel froze in shock for a moment but he managed to put his arms around her back and hug her quickly before she pulled away. Pavel felt the urge to reach up and touch the spot on his face that she'd kissed, but he refrained from doing so. He cleared his throat and smiled.

"I am wery glad zat you like zem."

Vivienne nodded, trying to calm down her raging heartbeat. She looked down at the flowers again and smiled. "Did you really miss me?" she asked, almost hopefully.

Pavel nodded and looked down at the comforter in embarrassment. "Yes. You are wery pretty, Wee-wee-yen. And I like talking to you wery much. But I deed not think zat you wood want to see me after I got you in trouble weeth your superior officers. I shood not have faked my allergies, but I could not think of any other way to keep seeing you."

"Well, you could have asked me to have dinner with you or something," she pointed out with a smile.

Pavel looked surprised. "Wood you hawe said yes?"

Vivienne nodded. "Yes, I would have. You're extremely sweet, Pavel, and I like talking to you too. Not to mention that you're always so cheerful and you make me feel really happy. Look," she pointed out. "I was so upset about everything with Doctor McCoy and you managed to make me feel better in an instant. Of course I would have said yes. I still would."

Pavel grinned widely, looking quite pleased with himself. "Wee-wee-yen, will you hawe dinner with me?"

"Yes, Pavel, I will," she said and smiled.

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	4. Chapter 4

Doctor McCoy was sitting alone in his quarters and reading over some files on his PADD when Layla Frances barged in. He jumped as he looked up and saw her enter, frowning. Why the hell didn't his computer alert him when she was about to come in? She must have messed with the system. Or maybe it was Jim. "Dammit, woman, you can't just barge into my quarters like that!"

Layla's arms were folded across her chest. To his surprise, the usual smug smile was missing from her face. She looked upset. "Bones, you really went over the top today. Do you have any idea how much you upset Nurse Delacourte?"

McCoy sat up with a raised eyebrow. "You're not mad about that? She was asking for it! Do you realize what could have happened if I'd administered the hypo she gave me? The Engineer would have passed out, not to mention we'd all be fired for medical malpractice and negligence!"

Layla came over and sat down on the edge of McCoy's bed. She was tired and her eyes were puffed. She reached out and took his hand in hers, running her fingers over his calloused skin. "Bones,. Christine and I checked out the records. Nurse Grades was the one who was in charge of organizing the drugs. We found a couple of other medicines in the wrong cabinets too. So it wasn't Nurse Delacourte's fault."

Doctor McCoy frowned and shook his head. "So? She still should have checked the label before she handed it over to me."

"Leonard McCoy, she's just a kid." Layla replied sternly. "I had Chekov go check up on her after she ran out and he said that she was afraid she might lose her job over this. It's okay when you yell at people like me, I can take it. But you need to apologize to her and assure her that she's not losing her job."

McCoy looked up at Layla with his eyebrows raised. "You sent Chekov to check up on her? Was that really a good idea?"

Layla shrugged. "I wasn't sure if she'd want to see me. And let's face it, she's been pining over him ever since we banned him from Medbay. We really shouldn't be talking, Bones. Their relationship isn't against regs. Ours is."

McCoy sighed, leaning forward and putting his arms around Layla. She snuggled closer to him and closed her eyes, enjoying his warmth. The truth was, neither of them gave a damn that what they were doing was against the rules. They would never be able to stay away from each other anyway.

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"Let me get this straight," Nurse Farah said, with her eyebrows raised. She was sitting across from Vivienne in the Medbay, looking shocked. "You mean to say that you've never been on a date before? Not even one?"

Vivienne blushed. She could see how that would be so shocking to Nurse Farah, a gorgeous woman who'd slept her way across half the male population of the Enterprise. There were even rumours that she'd managed to seduce Captain Kirk into her bed. Or maybe it was the other way around. Vivienne didn't care to ask. She lowered her voice, ensuring that none of the other nurses or doctors could hear them. "Well, not never. I went to a school dance with this guy once. But this is different. It's just going to be me and Pavel. We're eating in his quarters. What if... you know?"

Nurse Farah laughed. "Honey, have you seen that kid? He's just as wet behind the ears as you are. I doubt he's really expecting to get laid. Even if he is, just tell him you want to take it slow. I'm sure he'll get the message."

Vivienne frowned. "What if he gets bored of me?"

Nurse Farah didn't respond, simply smiled down at her fondly. "Ah, young love. I remember those good old days." She patted Vivienne on the back. "My mother always used to say that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

"What does that mean?"

But Nurse Farah was already gathering up a bunch of PADDs and starting to walk away. "Doctor McCoy's here. Look busy, girl."

Vivienne whirled around and saw that Doctor McCoy had entered the sickbay for his morning shift. Her stomach lurched at the thought that he might fire her, but she took a deep breath and gathered her courage to go up to him. Her voice trembled. "Doctor McCoy?"

McCoy turned to look at her. "Nurse Delacourte."

"I wanted to apologize for yesterday," she said quickly. "I was being careless and irresponsible. I understand the consequences my actions could have had and I take full responsibility for them. I promise you that such a thing will never happen again." She paused. "All the same, if you want me transferred off the ship, then I will accept that."

"I don't want you transferred off the ship, Nurse Delacourte. I overreacted yesterday and I apologize," Doctor McCoy said gruffly, handing her a small machine. She took it silently. "Patients on cots 7 and 10 need their blood pressure taken. Get to it."

Vivienne beamed. "Yes, sir."

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Pavel Chekov jumped to answer the door when the computer announced that Nurse Vivienne Delacourte was waiting outside. He had been expecting her for over ten minutes, and he'd had doubts about whether she was even going to turn up. He opened the door and gaped at her. "Wee-wee-yen."

"Pavel!" Vivienne greeted, noticing that he was not wearing his usual Starfleet uniform. He was dressed in a very nice shirt and slacks, with his curly hair bouncing all over the place. He looked very handsome and Vivienne blushed deeply at the sight of him. "You look great. I'm so sorry I'm late."

"Eet is all right," Pavel assured her, stepping aside to let her in. Her blouse and skirt weren't as revealing as the blue medical uniforms, but her hair was let loose about her shoulders and Pavel resisted the urge to reach out and touch it. "You look wery beautiful." He smiled at her widely and noticed something white on her cheek. "But zere is something on your face..."

Vivienne's eyes widened, but Pavel reached forward and swiped the small blob of cream off her cheek. Vivienne could smell the cologne he was wearing and she tried not to make it obvious that she was sniffing him. She turned her attention to the cream he'd swiped off her cheek. "Oh, shoot. I didn't notice that. Actually, that's why I was late. I brought dessert."

Pavel looked down and noticed the small box in her hands. She held it out to him and he took it, opening the lid slightly and his eyes widening when he recognized the contents. "Pecan pie?"

"Yep," Vivienne said nervously. She smiled at him. "And I made it myself, so I promise there are no peanuts in it. I mean, it may not be what you're used to because I'm not a great cook, but-"

Pavel leaned down and kissed her on the cheek quickly, cutting Vivienne off and causing her to blush and look very pleased with herself. She smiled up at him when he set the pie on the table and took her hand in his gently while pulling her further inside his quarters. "Come. We shood eat dinner qweekly so I can taste your pecan pie."

Vivienne looked around, slightly surprised. "Wow. Your quarters are way better than mine," she admitted. She looked around and noticed that they seemed surprisingly clean. Pavel was adorable, but she didn't see him as a neat freak. "Did you tidy up for me?" Vivienne asked doubtfully.

Pavel shook his head. "No. I seemply stuffed ewerything into ze closet two minutes before you came."

Vivienne swatted his arm when she saw that he was joking. "Ha ha, very funny. What are we eating?"

They sat on Pavel's bed and ate beef stroganoff, which Pavel claimed was invented in Russia. Vivienne wasn't sure how much she believed him. He'd once told her in the Medbay that antihistamines had been discovered in Russia, while Vivienne knew that the man who'd discovered them had actually been Swiss. All the same, she hadn't had the heart to correct him. The beef tasted great, and it wasn't as though it mattered. Vivienne just enjoyed listening to Pavel talk. He loved telling her about his home in Russia and his family, although he was considerate enough not to dominate the conversation. He asked her questions about her own life as well, and by the end of the night, Vivienne knew that she was falling fast for Pavel Chekov.

"Should I slice the pie?" Vivienne asked, as she brought it over to where they were sitting. Pavel nodded eagerly, his legs bouncing. Vivienne giggled. She wasn't sure if he was aware that he bounced his legs whenever he was excited, but it was adorable. She cut a slice and slid it onto a plate nervously handing it to him. "Here, you get first bite. Be honest with me if it's awful, okay?"

"I am sure it ees wonderful," Pavel said, as he grabbed a spoon and scooped a large amount of the pie into his mouth. Vivienne watched in trepidation as he chewed and swallowed it thoughtfully.

"Well?" she asked. "How bad was it?"

Pavel didn't reply. Instead, he scooted down the bed towards her and placed his hands on both her cheeks. Before Vivienne could react, he was cupping her face and he'd gently pressed his lips to hers. Vivienne's body stiffened, but it only took a moment for her to relax and close her eyes. His lips were soft and warm as they moved over hers and he tasted of the cream that she'd topped on the pie. Her hands reached up and rested on his shoulders as he pulled her closer, both of them enjoying the sweetness of the kiss. Pavel pulled away slowly, blushing.

"That good, huh?" Vivienne asked, giggling nervously as she reached up to touch her lips.

Pavel grinned and silently held out his plate for more.

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End file.
